Penelope Cruz

So, i didnt meet her, but i did see her on TV yesterday. one of the funniest things about Spain is its television. Although lacking in number, the channels do play a lot of american shows! my host mom likes to watch House, so my roommate and i watched it with her. no subtitles... its all dubbed! it actually makes it harder to understand because sometimes i rely on both the sound AND movement of lips to catch quick phrases, and obviously lip movement does NOT match up.

Last night were the "Goya" awards... sortof an oscar- like deal. lots of famous people in pretty (or not-so-pretty) dresses and lots of "thank you" speeches. penelope cruz won one, it was pretty cool. they have a lot of people i have never heard about before, but it was fun to watch anyways. my host mom was very excited about watching the awards- she is so great, and is a really good cook, even though she wont admit it. we had artichoke and her version of paella last night (she didnt say it was paella but it was yellow rice with chicken, red peppers, shrimp and mussels) YUMMMMMMM. over dinner we talk about the most random things aka Victoria beckham and how her and her futbol hubbie were in Madrid. (supposedly vikki hates madrid becaue it smells like garlic. and sounds like the spaniards dont like her either. my host mom said that david, who is SO good looking, could have done so much better than her. hahahahah).

this blog is sortof everywhere- sorry if i lost you. continuation of my thoughts...

we went to Toledo the other day (saturday?) and it was GORGEOUS- its just like the movies- itty bitty stone streets that seem to go nowhere, and laundry hanging out of peoples balconys. i was thinking- can you order pizza for delivery?

sunday it snowed furiously- it didnt really stick cause it was a rain mix, but my plans to go to the flea market at rastro were cancelled. my host mom says nothing works when it snows- spaniards dont know what to do. (same with dc- snow+driving=mess)

can you see the snow? this is off my balcony

today we went to our campus for the first time. it was a hike but i think its doable... its worth the commute because i get to live in the city and go to a school that is smaller and international-student friendly. im trying to choose classes now... ill let you know when i figure that out.

Darn it

So i was a little sad just right now because i finished that huge bag of Christmas red and green M&Ms mom gave me for the flight over. they were so good! and now i dont have any. lets talk a second about food in Espana

im basically as picky as my dad when it comes to food- aka i will eat anything. i have confirmed however, my dislike of olives, but am starting to like tomatos, believe it or not. breakfast is always small.... fruit, piece of toast, on the way to somewhere grab a coffee (1.50 euro)... lunch is bigger, like a dinner, usually warm, or a bocadillo aka sandwich with whatever on it (the other day i had a sandwich with the equivilant of an omelet in it w/ eggs, ham etc). and dinner is not small but its lunch sized. so far ive eaten things like lentil soup, chorizo sausage, pasta with red sause, pumpkin soup, fried fish, lots of ham. ham is big here... jamon serrano is a kind of cured ham, not as thinly sliced as proscuitto, but its similar to that. basically, people can buy the entire leg of a pig, hoof and all, and they just slice off what they want. ive noticed that very commen appetizers are "tostadas" which is basically toast with stuff on top of it- sardines, cheese, serrano ham, tomato... you name it.

i almost forgot to mention the churros and chocolate. so basically if you get "hot chocolate" your going to get a mug full of melted chocolate bar. i dont konw how they do it, but you dip your churros right in and its just delish. no sipping though, its spoon material.

going out to eat has been one of my favorite things to do. there are always so many people out and about, and theres so many "hole in the wall" type of resturants that have great food. the trick is trying to find one that isnt too touristy.

off to bed for me, we are all going to toledo tomorrow for a day trip! early wake up call too, so im going to go do a sudoku puzzle (new latest obsession), and fall asleep.
-jilliefrijole

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdf2eLeCLHI
one of my favorite youtube moments

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDDDDDDYYYY!!!

a great past couple days! i just took a siesta and it was wonderful- today the group got together to see an art museum featuring sorolla. well, actually it was his house full of his art. it was fantastic and beautiful! google image it- i had been familiar with one or 2 of the paintings before- it was very nice. then we went walking around the parque de retiro-- this HUGE park that is absolutely beautiful with lakes and a place to rent rowboats (we will do that when it is a little warmer out) and artwork and statues and basically , let me quote kara, is a "recipe for romance" haha. its giong to be so cute in the spring with all the little ducklings! we walked all around and ended up near the prado museum but didnt go in but did go to eat, yummmmm- a favorite pastime.

yesterday we saw this awesome cathedral being constructed by an 80 year old with no experience in building making. ive forgotten my camera the past two days but no worries- friends have the pics and i will just steal them from their cameras.

after dinner tonight a few friends and i are interested in going out and seeing madrid in action during the evening. this place is always awake! i have been verrrry happy here- i love the city and the location of my flat. i would only say that the only frustration would be the language- i knew it would be a little difficult at first, its just that there is so much i want to say! i know i will be getting better.... i already AM getting better ive learned so much random vocab like "deer" and "needle point" and the 20 different kind of hams.

we are going to toledo on friday for a day trip. i wont forget my camera for that one! next week i will be picking out classes etc. ill keep yall updated. besos- and note- in spain its a kiss on each cheek

ESTOY AQUI! (i am here...)

BUENOS DIAS! well, i guess its after 6 now so its more like BUENOS TARDES!!! remember, 6 hour time difference. lets see....

i got here 2 days ago. the flight went smoothly- said bye to les, mom, and dad as i passed through security and from there i went to find my terminal and such. british airways was amazing- i highly suggest it. everyone had a awesome accent- any rubbish for me to get rid of? cheerio!--- you know, the regular. so the flight was 6 hours long and i did not sleep a wink. dad, i know you would be interestd to know what we got to eat on the plane. wellll i got chicken and pasta with a side salad with feta cheese and crasins, a piece of apple pie, a roll, and kit kats. lol- it wasnt bad considering its plane food. then they turned off the lights and like, 2 hours later they turn the lights on and announce breakfast. silly silly silly. i TRIED to fall asleep but i couldnt so i did some sudoku, played around with the touchscreen tv i had in front of me and watched moulin rouge, listened to music etc. i had an isle seat in row 50--- you know how those big planes have 2 aisles so its 3 seats, 4 seats, 3 seats going across the plane? well i was on the aisle in the middle (does that make sense? seat 50D out of 50A through J) well anyways.... basically the seat next to me had NOONE IN IT!!! so i had some elbow room. that was nice.

then i had a layover in heathrow which i was really concerned about but i had enough time becuase our plane arrived earlier than expected due to very strong tail winds. so, i got to the right terminal, which was a small miracle, and we were loaded right onto the plane again. i was laughing a little bit to myself because as we were getting on there was a group of tourists from china (i think) that SOMEHOW ended up getting rows 15-32 window seats only. really funny watching that happen. the food on that flight was basically inexistant, but i was fine with it cause i had m&ms my mom packed for me for my flight over..... yummmm.

i arrived and go through customs (dude, he didnt even ask questions. he just marked my passport and let me through, nbd (no big deal)). i picked up my luggage and used some spanish skills to find out where patricia witzig was giong to be meeting me.

i found her! it was nice... i had been traveling for a while and was quiiiiite exhausted so we spoke in english for a while and she drove me to the hostel where my friends jeanie, jeanette and kara were staying. she dropped me off quick on the busy street and showed me the entrance and said the hostel was on teh 7th floor... so me with my HUGEEEE bags was a funny sight. i found the hostel and the room (again, funny with the owners of the hostels because they were confused which room i was in) and walked in on the girls all dead asleep. GOOOOOD MORNINNGNNNGGG SUNSHINES!!!! we all reunited, i was very very energetic, then i crashed until dinner. we walked around the city at 8 ish... which is still sortof early for a spanish dinner, but found a little pizzaria and we all split 2 pizzas and wine for 20 euro.... what a deal!

the next day the rest of the students were going to be arriving so we had to move to the hotel next door that was reserved by our program and we got to meet the others in the group. overall there are 13 of us- its cute, and small! 6 from catholic, 6 from ripon in wisconsin, and 1 from bard college. the director picked us up at 8 for a tapas dinner and handed off a handbook of rules etc.

we fell asleep, and now it is sunday, and this morning we had breakfast at the hotel, and met our host families! the senora of the house is named concha, and she has a son, daughter and a dog. her daughter has recently moved out of the house and is renting with friends, and her son is my age and studying engineering at a nearby college. one of the girls from ripon in wisconsin, katie, is also living in the flat. i have the CUTEST room. it is painted tiffany blue and there is a corner baclony with all these potted plants looking out onto the city street! its amazing. we are all on the 5th floor of our building and its very small, but its very typical, especially in the city. i am near a few metro stops which will be helpful getting to school, about a 30 minute ride. if i go downstairs and walk along the streets it is very safe, and there are sooooo many places to eat, places to watch movies, cafes,.... so much to do and see. its still intimidating walking around and giong into places especially when they are busy because of the language barrier, but i just had lunch a few hours ago and got through the how conversation in spanish so i guess so far so good.

ok, tomorrow we have breakfast at puente de sol (google map it... its near the center of the city) to have churros con chocolate for breakfast.... my type of meal!

this has been a very long blog, i guess its nice to be able to use english to express myself! xoxoxo i love you all. ps. mom, get skype, cause laura and i just used it and it was very very dandy.

CIAO! HASTA LUEGO!

esperando....

got my visa!

my room up until now has been a complete mess. now its only a minor mess. it was funny going through some of my old papers and memories. im the type that gets easily distracted from cleaning by random old memorabelia.... there was just so much STUFF in my room after moving all of my things out of my dorm.

presently im thinking about how to go about packing for my adventure, considering all the stuff i have here. hmmm..... downsizing. i got this really cool book for christmas- "mega gramatical y dudas del idioma"- that one might have to come with me! that and sneakers. im considering tennis. OH and my webcam that i finally installed. the list continues!

three days off in a row? wowwww